5 UConn Men's Lessons Learned: Boatright Delivers On His Promises

Ryan Boatright delivers on his promises; and four other lessons learned from UConn's win over Cincinnati.

HARTFORD – UConn survives, and advances to the American Conference semifinals with a 57-54 win over Cincinnati that was, in every sense, the game of the year so far. UConn and Cincy slugged it out, again, and the Huskies won it on Ryan Boatright’s shot. Quick turn-around; here’s what we learned.

The legacy: Ryan Boatright’s body of work has been impressive all along, but the comparison to other great Husky guards, including his former teammate Shabazz Napier, were and are inevitable. But Boatright has his own signature moment now. His leadership this year has been very strong, and surrounded by young players, leading this team was a more difficult task than the others had. Whatever happens now, it can be said Ryan Boatright has delivered on all he’s promised.

A piece of the Rak: With Kentan Facey out and both Amida Brimah and Phil Nolan in foul trouble, UConn got 13 very important minutes from freshman Rakim Lubin. In midseason, he contributed some key minutes in a win over Cincinnati, then kind of disappeared and then got the concussion. But he was there in an important spot and showed signs he could be an important contributor.

Make – or break: It’s not “settling” when they go in, right? The Huskies, who were 11-for-17 on three-point shots against USF were 11-for-30 against Cincy. The match-up zone Cincinnati was playing left spots from which open threes could be launched, and the bottom line is, to win games, you have to make shots. When UConn does, they win.

Decibel level: The crowd was bigger – 9,514 – and it was better, an obvious factor in the game. You would think there would be a full house Saturday, but it’s impossible to tell how many people from out of town have tickets and took them home with them. The number of people in the stands is not terribly relevant, anyway. Enjoy the moment in sports, and this was a great moment. Maybe there’s more to come.

HARTFORD – Ryan Boatright has said all season that he did not come back to UConn for his senior year to play in the NIT, but when he missed a free throw with 25 seconds left on Friday night, it looked as if that small consolation prize would be his, and the Huskies' fate.

It still might be. But...

(DOM AMORE)

And another thing: I will stick with what I said last night. This second game of the tournament is the “hump” game. It would be the toughest. Now that UConn has survived, they have a real chance to win this tournament.